It’s a Spider’s World: “Queen and Country”

Lesson one on writing a spider story: Never write a spider story. Don’t do it. It’s been done. Since mythological times. Spider women. Tangled webs we weave. Innate fears and phobias. The built-in burdens alone will wrap poor writer you in literary silk. See what happens with spider stories? The metaphors have started already. Lesson…… Continue reading It’s a Spider’s World: “Queen and Country”

Behind: “What Settles After the Stars”

One fated French night in 1700 or thereabouts, so the story goes, Dom Pierre Pérignon was stalking his Hautevillers cellar, turning his bottles, and the great monk decided then was as good a time as any to have a taste. And what he tasted went down crisp and bright and bubbly, the first modern champagne.…… Continue reading Behind: “What Settles After the Stars”

Behind The Short Story: “Aix to Grind”

Yes, I was in Aix-en-Provence, and sure, I was studying a Picasso in a museum’s first room, only a token velvet rope between me and it, and okay, I even thought, “man, this is how many million euro hanging how many steps from the door?” But no, I wasn’t casing the joint. I’m no thief. I am a…… Continue reading Behind The Short Story: “Aix to Grind”

Behind: “Uprisings at Cap d’Antibes”

There’s nothing like a good, old-school revolution to get a story going. Great or small, a lightning coup or decades in the making, needed change or epic tragedy. Revolution, for better or worse, is essentially human. The idea of a revolution wriggled into my brain some time back. In my fiction usually a form of natural order wins…… Continue reading Behind: “Uprisings at Cap d’Antibes”

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